Page 39 - DISINVESTMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF VISION SCREENING TESTS BASED ON THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

Inventory of current EU paediatric vision and hearing screening programmes
In the Netherlands and Sweden a combination of national and regional programmes exists. Almost all countries have a programme for all children, except Albania, where screening is selective. Screening is not free in Albania, Bulgaria, and Czech Republic, and is compulsory in Bulgaria, Flanders, Greece, Hungary, and Turkey.
Tests
Weight, height and head circumference are measured in all countries, cardiac function in all but Albania, lung function in all but Albania and Flanders, vision in all but Albania and Turkey, hearing in all but Albania and Malta, motor skills in all but Czech Republic and the UK, speech and language development in all but Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and the UK, cognitive development in all but Albania, Czech Republic, Flanders, and the UK. Psychosocial development is assessed in all countries but Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Flanders, Germany, Israel, Sweden, and the UK.
Referral, funding and coverage
Referral is most often to a specialist. Funding is provided mostly by the government or health insurance. Coverage is above 80% in all countries, except Albania. Further data is presented in table 4 and Appendix Map 3.
Questionnaire answer check
Changes were made based on the first round of questionnaire answers. In hearing screening data: for Belgium (Flanders) the ASSR was added as test for neonates at risk; for Finland “testing one ear” was changed to “testing one ear or both ears”; for France “testing one ear and testing both ears” was changed to “always testing both ears”; for Italy coverage of “> 95%” was changed to “70%”; Malta selective screening, not population-wide screening, was confirmed; for Poland “non-staged screening” was changed to “staged screening”; for Israel, Italy, Lithuania, and Switzerland “only aABR testing” for neonates at risk was corrected to “OAE and/or aABR”.
Vision screening data was revised: for Austria funding was changed from “health insurance” to “health insurance and state”; for Belgium (Flanders) personnel was changed from “nurse” to “nurse and youth health care physician”, testing of stereopsis and colour vision was added and VA chart was changed from “Landolt C” to “Pictures and HOTV”; for Croatia VA chart was changed from “only Tumbling E” to “Pictures, Lea and Tubling E”; for Czech Republic Pictures and Lea chart were added; for Denmark the “Snellen chart” was changed to “Pictures” and coverage was changed from “>80%” to “>95%”; for Iceland Snellen chart was added; for Israel coverage
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